Chased by the past
by MilaFletcher
Summary: One day out with her friends changed all her life. Gabrielle was forced to move from London to Norwich to run away from some people. After falling in love with Nathaniel, can she tell him the truth and can he love her enough to put all behind?


I was woken up by my mother calling me; I took my clock and looked at it. 7:15 a.m. God sakes! Why did she have to wake me up at such an early hour? Then I realized it was my first day at my new school! Jumping out of my bed I took the first clothe I saw, that didn't make me look so ridiculous and ran to the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror and decided I definably need some make up and to brush my hair. As soon I ended saving my appearance I ran out of the house say goodbye to my parents. When I arrived at the school I knew everybody must be staring at my car wondering who is the new student or they probably already knew who I was, since this type of new usually got in everybody knowledge incredibly fast.

_Ok. Calm down now. Don't embarrass yourself in front of all those people. _I took a deep breath and opened my door. I walked with my head down so I could see all the glares coming towards me. I knew that since I didn't look like a normal and beautiful girl as the other might be, I might be calling a bit of attention right now. I didn't like to be the new shining toy at anywhere. I entered the director's office to get my new schedule. Mr. Dick was a short, taller then me yet, old and a completely nerd. I was shocked that someone like him could control a bunch of teenager at high school. People at my age most of the time are always trying to make the school a total chaos. Once I was with my schedule in hands I ran to my first class: Literature. I knocked the door.

"Come in, please." – Said Mrs. Linwood. I stepped in slowly and did the mistake to look the class around. Every single soul in that room was looking at me with a curious expression. There were a trio of girls in the center, who I could tell they were like the most popular girls of this school just by the way they were sitting and their expensive clothes. I will not even describe them because they looked like every other popular girl; I made a mental note to stay away from these vain girls. On the right corner of the class was a freak girl. Her hair was short and all messed around. She wasn't a punk. Believe me. She just had a different style; in my opinion better then the Barbie's one.

"Hi, teacher. I'm Katherine Morgan."

"Oh! The new girl! I have heard about you. Nice to meet you, sweet. Now, could you please take a seat?"- Mrs. Linwood seemed to be a kind woman. I nodded and walked to the only seat available, which was in front of the freak girl. I put my bag on the table and sat already opening my notebook to make notes from the class. I felt someone poking my shoulder so I turned to face the person. The freak girl smiled at me and extended her hand for me to shake.

"Hi! I'm Kayla. Katherine, right?"- She said in a relaxed and sweet voice. I shocked her hand and smiled back at her.

"Yeah. Nice to meet you, Kayla."

"Listen. I don't want to disturb you from your notes but you see those girls in the center of the class?"- She said appointing with her finger to the vain girls from before.

"The Barbie ones?"- She laughed and nodded.

"Yeah. Those ones. Looking your style, you would like to stay away from them or you will turn into their new project for this year."- Just the thought of having to be the doll of them just not good.

"I thought about it when I entered the room."- Our conversation didn't continue because Mrs. Linwood called our attention back to the subject. Kayla seemed to be a nice girl, just way to different from someone you usual see walking around but still I nice girl. I could tell by her style that she had troubles with the popular group. I saw from the corner of my eyes the popular girls talking and sending glares towards me and Kayla. Yeah, I will definably stay the hell away from them. As the teacher talked I opened my copy of Romeo and Juliet book under the desk and keep reading while she was explained something I already have studied in my old school. I can't lie I have always liked to ready Shakespeare poems and stories even this was the opposite type of thing the people i used to walk with would do. That reminds me I have to enjoy the drama club of this school! Yes! I'm planning on being a actress one day. My concentration was broke by the ring of the bell marking the end of the class. I took my bag and walked to the door but turned around as Kayla called me.

"What is your next class?"- She asked with a happy voice and with a glint of hope I guess. I haven't memorized my entire schedule yet so I took it from my notebook.

"Trig. What…"- Before I could ask her what was her next class she started to jump like a child and lightly clap her hands.

"Me too! Great! Come on, I will show you were the class is."- I followed her. We didn't stop talking in the way to the class. She was a very funny girl and really easy to make a conversation with. Since our classes were all together we sat together in all of them. At lunch we were at the food line when the Barbies came to talk with me. Wow! Is there anything that is 100% natural on them? They all were way to much make up, high heels, and skinny jeans; however, I have to admit their hair looked like one of those commercials of shampoos. But still, the bitchy look on their face could already scare anyone.

"Hi, Katherine. I'm Lindsay. Would you like to sit with us at lunch?"- Said the tallest one trying, even with no much success, to sound nice and kind. I controlled myself not to make fun of her and answer in a nice voice.

"Sorry..er…Lindsay. But I will sit with Kayla here."- I said pointing to Kayla who was eyeing Lindsay with victory look on her face. I could tell she was enjoying seeing the latter being turned down.

"Kayla? Oh! Well if you want to be seen with her."- She made a jest like she didn't care.- "But when you get tired of her. Just talk to me."- She turned on her heels still staring at Kayla and walking away followed by her slaves. I heard Kayla sigh behind me so I turned to look at her.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing. I will tell you later, ok?"- I nodded and we walked to our table in the far corner from the cafeteria. Kayla was telling me about her parents and their funny stories when I saw Lindsay planning on turn some jelly on Kayla from behind her which was supposed to look accidental. I stood up faster then I had planned with out trip and held Lindsay wrist. This girl is passing the limits already. I got furious with her, so I held her wrist with more force then I usually would. She looked for me for a briefly moment with a scared expression on her face then put her Barbie and bitchy mask back.

"What the hell do you think you were going to do?"- I was still holding her wrist strong enough to hurt her. And this moment I made sure I was using all my strength.

"Take your hands off me, Morgan!"- She said between her teeth; her face was turning red. I released her but didn't step back. I was a little taller then her still, even with her in those heels that a person who knows what pain is would never walk on.

"Get lost, Lindsay."- I said trying to control myself so I wouldn't jump on her neck. I knew I barely knew Kayla, but I already felt very protective about her. Kayla stood up and stepped between me and Lindsay.

"Relax, Katherine. Lindsay, why don't you go back to your vain little world over there or I will have to punch your beautiful fake nose again."- Kayla said with cold voice which I had never imagined her speaking with.

"Oh! I'm so scared of you, Kayla. But this time you don't have your BFF to help you. So…wanna see if you can beat me?"- I saw Kayla make a hurt face for a second then compose her.

"Oh! I don't need anyone protecting me; however, I can not say the same for you. " – She stepped forward but I held her on place telling Lindsay wasn't worth it. The bell rang and Lindsay turned around on her heels getting out of the cafeteria. Kayla let out a big sigh and walked to her next class with her head down and a bit to fast. I don't know why but I need to know why Lindsay had mentioned her "BFF" and why she was so sad about it. I closed my eyes and walked to my locker to catch my books to Chemistry. I got my book and a copy of Twilight book I had on my locker. I was walking to my next class readying my book when I ran into him. I got in my knees to get my books that had felt the same time the person got the books with his pale hands. I got them and for the first time looked to the guy's face. The guy looked l like a Greek god or and angel. He had short dark hair yet still in a shade of brown with light waves and messed up, gorgeous light blue eyes with a darker line around the light blue. His features were thin and perfect like every rest of his face. He raised an eyebrow and smiled to me, making me realize I was staring at him. My cheeks got hotter and I looked down not to meet his gaze again. Then I heard his velvet and smooth voice.

"Hi! You must be the new girl, right?"- I was about to talk but ended nodding my head because I could find my voice. He extended his hands and I shocked it.-"I'm Nathaniel Dashwood. But please, call me Nate."

"I'm Katherine Morgan."- I finally got the courage to speak and his smile got bigger.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Hmm…What is your next class?"- He said putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Only now I noticed he was wearing a turtle-neck beige shirt, a dark brown leather jacket and dark jeans. I could help but notice that the shirt could show the muscles of his chest. He wasn't huge, the opposite; He was thin but yet muscular and with a defined body.

"Chemistry. Yours?"

"Really? Mine too. Mind if I go with you?"

"No. I would love to."

We walked to class talking a little. Not the type of conversation that could make me knows him, only superficial things like schools and if I liked to live in Norwich. We arrived to the classroom and Nate walked to a desk and I came to talk with the teacher. Mr. Darcy told me to go sit so he could began the lesson. I obeyed and sat in a desk close to the huge window that was in the room. I heard someone sit next to me and pull the chair closer. I looked and faced Nate smiling to me; I smiled and got my attention back to the lesson. We didn't talk more in the class or after that. In the end of the classes I walked inside the secretary room to talk with her about the drama club. I stepped inside and got shocked to see Nate writing his name in a paper on the board with advertises. I called him and his eyes got wide after seeing me.

"Oh! Hi Katherine. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was planning to enjoy the drama club. And you?"

"The same thing. Lindsay says that it's stupid and all this stuff. But I really like to act…so…screw her!"- We both laughed.

"Are you and her…like…dating or something?"- I asked in a nervous voice. He seemed to be a kind and sweet guy. How could he be with such a bitch like Lindsay?

"Er…Yeah. We have been dating for a while."- He looked away after answering me.

"I have to go now. See you later."- I wrote my name on the board and left not wanting to look into his eyes again. Once I got home, I rushed to my bedroom to use my computer. I need to talk with Jennifer. She was one of my best friends back in London. Unlucky she wasn't online at the time I got in the computer. So I had to pass part of the afternoon reading and when I got bored to death, I decided to take a walk around the town. According to my mother, there was a fair in the town. It was about 6:00 p.m. when I got to the fair.

The place was full decorated and had a lot of small tents were people were playing or eating. Like a carnival or something. The fullest place at the fair was where there were having some shows. At the moment, a girl was singing one of Taylor Swift's songs. I stood there for a while just listening but got out off my trance by the poke of someone in my shoulder. I turned to face Nate smiling at me.

"Why such a beautiful girl is here all alone?"- He said with a crooked smile. I only laughed before answering him.

"Only thinking…I got bored at my house so I decided to take a walk around. And you?"

"Well…I was supposed to be with Lindsay right now here. But she couldn't come, so since I was already here I thought I might find someone I knew here. And here you are."- I bet she was with someone else. I was about to say something when he talked again.- "Katherine, Would you…like to dance?"- Nathaniel was asking me to dance. It took me a second to finally find my voice. He walked us to the middle of the dance floor. The music playing was "Tears drops on my guitar" from Taylor Swift; a slow song. He took one of my hand and the other came to my waist, as we began to dance we wasn't so close to each other and we keep on our conversation, much of it was about the drama club. After a while we were closer enough that he let go of my hand and his made his two hands stay around my waist; both of my hands came to his shoulders. I wanted to put them in his neck so my head could come down to his shoulder. However, since he had a girlfriend and I barely knew him, I was not able to do so.

"I wonder what play we will performer this year."- He said making a face like he was thinking. Kind of funny and cute.

"I heard some girl say that it would be a play of Shakespeare."- I answered taking my eyes off of his face.

"Are you hungry? I haven't eaten since I got here."

"I'm starving!"- He smiled down to me and took my hand walking out of the dance floor. After we bought some food, we walked around the fair playing the stupid games and talking. Soon we have walked around the entire fair and decided to sit at a fountain. It was freezing there and my coat wasn't helping much with that.

"Kath? Can you tell me why you moved to this city? I mean…you lived at London before, why would your parents move to Norwich?"

"My Father's job is a bit different. His boss is always asking him to move around the country so my mom and I go with him. I usually not spend more than a year at a city."- I couldn't tell Nate the truth about my parents, even with the new need I have to tell him everything. Wait! Why do I want to tell him about it? I barely know him! Besides I want to be a normal teenager while I still have time. I let go a small sigh and looked up to the sky. I could feel Nate staring at me, although, I just kept looking up, staring at the stars. - "Look at the sky. It's completely clean tonight."- I glared to Nate for a second to see if he was looking up. He only looked more gorgeous at the moon light. His pale skin got paler and smoother, his blue eyes were kind of shinning. He lay down on the grass in front of us and put his hands behind his head, always staring at the sky.

"It's beautiful. You see those stars of there?"- He pointed for a group of stars.-"It's the Virgo constellation"- He paused and gestured to me to lay down with him on the grass. I like a puppy dog, obeyed and lay down. I would have to discover about this need to be close to him later. It's was really weird since I never got close so fast to someone. It's like there was some kind of force coming from him that is always pulling me towards him.-"Those ones over there are the Centaurus constellation."

"Nate…really…I don't see a thing. It's doesn't look like a Centaur."- I said laughing a bit. He did it too.

"How can you not see it? Look there!! That is the head, then this one is the back…"- He said pointing to the sky. I really didn't see a thing. I turned my head around and saw that he was holding a smile.

"Nate. You don't see a thing either, do you?"- I asked curiously. Then he started to laugh hard.

"I don't! Really! My dad has always tried to make me see something there; however, I never saw anything. I can't imagine something there…only thousands of small points."- He said between his laughs. We were both laughing on the ground. I notice that the moon was all up in the sky and took my phone to see what time it was. It's was passing midnight! I can't believe it was so late! My mother was going to kill me! I stood up fast and Nate too. I didn't want to go home right now, but I had to.

"I need to go. It's really late."- I said not looking right into his eyes.

"Me too. Come on, I will go with you to your car…"

"No…I came walking…"

"Walking? And you were planning on going back home walking?"- I nodded. What was I supposed to do? Fly? Are you crazy? I'm not letting you go walking. It's dangerous! Come on, I will leave you at your house."- He grabbed my arm and led me to his car. It was not so far away from our place, but it was already worth since I could felt his warm hand tough my skin. The drive to my house was quite silent and fast since it was not far. I was going to open my door but Nate was faster and opened it for me.

"Thanks…"- I said with a low voice facing the ground once I was outside the car. He put his hand under my chin and pulled my face up to face him.

"You're welcome."- He said kissing my cheek and smiling the brightest smile ever. I waited his car disappear down the street to turn around and get in my house. I asked my parents how were there day and all this craps before I went to my room. I sat in front of the mirror and stared at it for a while. My light brown hair was going down my shoulders on light curls; my face was showing a bit of my worries; although, my honey eyes were lighter than before, I guess because of the great night I had. I knew my psychologist told me I would move to this city to rehab and he would prefer if I didn't have any serious relationship for a while. But the time I spent with Nate in the Fair was great and I did forget about why I was here and the actress I had to be at the moment. The memories of that last night in a club with my friends came in my mind.

_I was planning this to be a good night out with Courtney, Mike, Josh and Hugo. We went to a small club just to dance. But Gabriel and his asshole friends arrived and I saw Courtney's eyes wide when he entered the room. She had told me the night before she had betrayed Josh with Gabriel the week before, but not because she wanted. She had drank a lot and smoked, and was completely out of herself. Gabriel and Josh hated each other and would try to kill the other at any chance because of their past. I never got the chance to know why. Josh and her wasn't talking anymore and when Gabriel walked in and came close to us, I saw Josh pull out a gun turn it on Gabriel's direction; In seconds everything was chaos. The shot didn't get to Gabriel, but the latter pulled out a gun too and everyone started to fight. Courtney ran to get to Josh who was on the floor bleeding on the leg; at the same time I fell to the ground because of the crowd running and ended close to Josh's gun. _

_Courtney's screams made me turn my head around to her direction and see the scene. Gabriel was with a gun in front of Josh direction, Courtney trying to stop him and Josh on the floor. My next action was a reflex. I didn't think twice. I pick up the gun and in the same second Gabriel shot, Courtney got between Josh and the gun and I pulled the trigger of the gun in my hands. In that moment the entire scene in front of me seemed to be in slow motion. Courtney's lifeless body falling and so did Gabriel's body, the sound of the police's car arriving at the club; Josh screaming on Courtney's body, Mike punching one last time one of Gabriel's guys before running to Josh. I stood up and ran to Josh and Mike. After the police and the doctors take care of everything, I realized what I had done; I killed the leader of the gang from my neighborhood. My uncle who was a lawyer helped me with the process for had killed Gabriel_

_The next weeks were a living hell. I wouldn't leave the house or the school alone because the rest of Gabriel's gang was searching for me..Then after several calls and messages from them, the police helped my parents and me to move and change our names and all this stuffs. That night cost me the life of one of my best friends, my name and the entire life I knew. The next year we moved twice and I began therapy. _

I shook my head to clear my mind from the memories and went to bed before I could think about this any longer. It was because of that mistake I changed my name from Gabrielle to Katherine, was because of it that I moved and left behind my friends and life. And was because the police told us the last month that I would still have to life like Katherine because they still didn't arrested the rest of the gang. And believe me, it was a huge and powerful gang and I had reasons to be scare. I barely slept that night because of my nightmares.

The next day I woke up earlier so I had plenty time to get decent dressed and eat a full breakfast. It was a bit uncomfortable to eat with your mother staring at you suspicious. She tried to ask me what I have done last night but I excused myself saying that I was late to school. I parked my car far away as possible from Lindsay's car. She and her friends together with Nate were in front of it, talking happily. I walked around the school before the class began, searching for Kayla; I still needed to discover what had happened between Lindsay and her. When I saw her arriving at the school, Nate held me by my wrist turning me around.

"I have been calling you, Kath."- He told me with a curious expression.

"I was distracted."- I lied, well, half lied.

"I noticed. Listen, Jessica...the girl that takes care of the drama club, asked me to tell you about the meeting after class. You can go, right?"

"Hm, yeah."- I looked over his shoulder and saw Kayla getting in the classroom.-"Sorry, but…I have to go."- I hear him saying something, but I keep on going to meet Kayla. I entered the room and faced Kayla looking outside the window with a blank expression, like she wasn't there in soul only in body. She remembered me of a cold marble statue. I walked to her desk and looked for the direction she was looking outside. Lindsay and her friends were all laughing while they were drinking their hot coffees. I looked again to Kayla and put one hand on her shoulder. The way she looked to me showed that she hasn't noticed me standing there.

"Kayla…Are you okay?"- I asked sitting in the desk next to hers.

"Of course I am."- She gave me a fake smile and opened her book. She was definably a terrible liar.

"You know what…You are a terrible liar."- She laughed a bit but shocked her head.

"I don't want to talk about it now. Maybe later I can tell you, but not right now."- I nodded and notice the people coming to the class. I walked out the class and made my way to my first period. While I was walking on the hall I notice a couple against a wall making out. I felt an hole open on my chest when I noticed the guy was Nate. I speeded my walk but not before see Nate breaking the kiss and opening his eyes and seeing me. I didn't have the intention to make him see me, it was a coincidence. After this I almost ran to my first period. I sat on the corner at the end of the room next to the window. After a few minutes, Nate entered the room and tried to say Hi to me, but I just nodded and looked to my book on my lap; he sat behind me and all the time I could feel his gaze on my neck. I focused on what the teacher was saying.

In one of the moments I was distracted, I noticed I had started to rain hard. That's when I first saw one of them. One of the men from my nightmares. I felt cold shivers come down my spine, and the need to embrace myself or ran away from there. My breathing became faster but I got calmer when for one second I got my eyes of the men and then later turned again to look at it; however, the men was no longer there. The bell rang making me ran from there to outside. I walked in the small forest that was behind the school to calm down. I sat on a fallen tree to rest. I didn't mind on skipping a few classes since I have already learned most of the subjects the teachers would talk about. A thin rain began while I was there but I didn't bother about it, either. I was focused on my meditation to care about anything from outside.


End file.
